Berklee student and Melbourne, Australia native Sarah McKenzie is a pianist, vocalist, composer and full-tuition scholarship recipient. She will perform for the Brown Bag Series at Mechanics Hall on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, at noon with her quartet- including Carl Eisman on guitar, Greg Feingold on bass and John Wood on drums. The concert will be broadcast and streamed live by WICN 90.5 FM.
This young success has already released two albums. Having been mentored by legends like Graeme Lyall, Jamie Oehlers, James Morrison and JoAnne Brackeen, it is certainly no surprise that she has already come so far. In 2010, McKenzie won the James Morrison Scholarship for voice and was the only finalist to be nominated in both vocal and instrumental sections. She also sang backing vocals alongside multiplatinum, pop superstar Michael Bublé on his Call Me Irresponsible tour; she was also the opening act for five-time Grammy Nominee Chris Botti in 2011. In addition, her second album, Close Your Eyes, won the ARIA award for Best Jazz Album 2012.
In 2012, McKenzie auditioned for and was accept into a unique, eight-day composition program in which she would study in the USA with Grammy Award-winning, National Endowment for the Arts jazz master Johnny Mandel (“The Shadow of your Smile,” theme from M*A*S*H). In July of that year, she travelled to the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, to study with vocal specialist Donna McElroy as part of the Berklee summer school clinics. While at the clinics, she was invited to perform at the actual festival. It was during this performance on the Giardani Carduci stage that Berklee’s dean of admissions decided that McKenzie’s musical mastery was deserving of a full-tuition scholarship.
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McKenzie’s story is an incredible example of what happens when we do what we love simply because we love it. When our passion for and desire to master our art drives us to study it deeply, create it sincerely, and share it freely, doors begin to open up, behind which exist opportunities and futures that we never could have dreamed up ourselves. Be sure to tune in to Sarah McKenzie’s show on WICN 90.5 FM- there is not doubt that inspiration will follow.
